AT CLOSING NEWSOctober 2006David Elser is named head of NK Brand Seeds. Most recently, Elser served as head of the Northern Field Crops business unit for Syngenta Crop Protection, following earlier roles within the company as a District Sls Mgr and Sls Training Specialist.Jamie Leifker is named head of Mktg for NK, reporting to Elser. Leifker joined Syngenta in 2004 as Crop Protection district sales manager for northern Illinois and Wisconsin. Previously he held a brand marketing position for FMC.Rusty Thompson is promoted to Sls Dir for the East/South area, which covers most of Missouri and the eastern half of the U.S., including a restructured Southern Area. Now reporting to Thompson are two Southern RSMs Tony Drach, Eastern region, and Scott Tefteller, Western region.

Arm & Hammer names Curt Siverling as Dir of its animal nutrition business. Siverling had led the company's parent company Church & Dwight, Commercialization and Emerging Business Division since February 2006, where he was responsible for developing new products and business opportunities. Prior to joining Church & Dwight, Siverling was with FMC in various technical, sales, marketing and management roles.

DuPont and Bayer CropScience announce an agreement in which DuPont Crop Protection will acquire access to the Bayer CropScience products isoxadifen and isoxaflutole for use with DuPont's corn sulfonylurea products, including Steadfast, Accent, Stout and Resolve brands. Isoxaflutole, premixed with Resolve brand herbicides, will allow DuPont to create new pre-emergence offers for glyphosate tolerant hybrids. Bayer CropScience, in turn, will gain access to participation in the Pioneer TruChoice program and to copromote its Liberty/Liberty Link program with Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a DuPont subsidiary.

Carlyle/Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I, L.P. (CRREIF) and Bunge North America announce they will jointly build ethanol plants resulting in ultimate production capacity of several hundred million gallons per year by the end of 2008. The plants will be adjacent to grain facilities controlled by Bunge in the U.S. Bunge will supply corn and energy inputs for the plants, market and distribute the plants' outputs, including ethanol and distillers grains, and provide logistics and risk management services.

David Clarke is named VP of New Holland Agricultural Business in North America where he will oversee the sales, marketing and support functions of New Holland agricultural products in North America. Most recently, Clarke has served as VP New Holland Global Product Marketing.Prior to joining New Holland, Clarke served as VP for Mktg at NACCO Material Handling Group, which manufactures and markets Hyster and Yale forklift trucks and PACCAR Inc., manufacturer of heavy-duty, over the road trucks including Kenworth and Peterbilt brands.Clarke replaces Dennis Recker, who has elected to retire at the end of 2006 after more than 32 years of service to the company.

Monsanto announces YieldGard VT will be the name of its new, second-generation insect control technology, which is designed to provide farmers with more consistent insect control and higher yield potential. The initial products will be YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2 and YieldGard VT Triple, which will add the YieldGard Corn Borer trait via conventional breeding. Both are targeted for limited introduction in 2007. Dave Rhylander, Monsanto Director of Traits, said YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2 represents the next generation of YieldGard stacked traits, developed through advanced Vector-Stack Transformation, or "VecTran," technology upon which its name is based.

Case IH introduces a new logo. Says Francois Jourdan, VP Global Mktg and Brand Mgt, "Over time, our brand has become a treasured asset. There's a tremendous amount of loyalty to Case IH that's been built through years of hard work by our people, great representation by our dealers, and solid performance by our equipment." Also, the company announces the new Puma line of tractors. "If the Puma name sounds familiar, it should," says Don Rieser, Sr Dir Case IH Global Product Mktg Mgmt - tractors. "The Puma name has a proud heritage dating back two decades, when Steiger introduced the Puma 1000 row-crop tractor and was revolutionary for its time. Steiger Tractor became part of Case IH in 1986.

Fort Dodge Animal Health, Overland Park, KS, announces the addition of Stephanie Gable as ProductMgr - Strategic Initiatives, North American Sls and Mktg. Gable is responsible for developing strategic initiatives, aligning Ft. Dodge marketing strategies, and implementing marketing and promotion programs for the livestock, companion animal and equine business units. Prior to joining Ft. Dodge, Gable was Mktg Comms Mgr for Bayer CropScience in Durham, NC. She is the current Pres of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA).

Farm Credit Services of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO, changes its name to FCS Financial. FCS Financial has realigned itself to better serve the needs of a changing rural marketplace. With this new brand identity comes two new sub-brands: Ag & Business and Land & Home. The Ag & Business sub-brand will continue to focus on customers whose needs involve agriculture and agribusiness, including operating expenses, equipment, machinery and livestock. The Land & Home sub-brand will reach out to customers seeking loans, insurance and financial guidance for real estate, investment property and land.

IN MEMORIAMBrooks McCormick (1917-2006), the last member of the McCormick family to have an active role inInternational Harvester passed away in his sleep in his Chicago home last month. He was the great-grandnephew of the man who invented the McCormick Reaper.

McCormick was born in Chicago. His mother was a member for the Deering family, whose rival harvester business merged with the McCormick's to form IH in the early 1900s.

He graduated from Yale University in 1940 and went to work for IH in various sales jobs. He served as the company's Managing Dir of its British subsidiary and came back to the U.S. as Dir of Mfg. He was named Pres/COO and subsequently was named its CEO.